


The Gurdian of Smiles

by KeyStone



Series: Tales of Pearl the White Wyvern [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alois inspired jokes, Bad Jokes, Cute, Developing Friendships, Female My Unit | Byleth, Fluff, Friendship, Gatekeeper, Gen, Peal the Wyvern, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Time Skip, Smile, The Gatekeeper just wants to make Byleth smile, You Have Been Warned, baby wyvern, cuteness, lots of fluff, there will be jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 15:00:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20490764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeyStone/pseuds/KeyStone
Summary: For the briefest moment, he thinks he sees her mouth twitch upwards. He latches on to the tiny hope and, lets his words fall freely.“Did you hear about the new hatchlings of wyverns? You should go see them. I bet they’re just so cute. And small! Oh,  I bet they're  like little sky puppies!" Okay so maybe that was a little too much. Reel back, reel it back. "I mean, I bet they'll serve the knights well. Don’t you?”He sees it again, that little twitch of her lips. And he knows it's real. The desire to bounce back and forth on the balls of his feet is almost overwhelming. It might actually happen. He might actually do it this time. Calm down. Deep breaths. He. Can. Do. This.





	The Gurdian of Smiles

**Author's Note:**

> There was so much love for “Different” that you all inspired me to turn it into a bit of a series. The works in the series won’t focus solely on Byleth and Claude's relationship, but I ship them too hard not to include them!
> 
> But really thank all of you who read, commented, and gave my "Different" love. I never imagined that my work would be so welcomed so thank you Claude/Byleth fandom! Thank you for making me feel wanted. 
> 
> If you haven't read "Different," I suggest reading it first. You don't necessarily have to, but it does provide context.
> 
> To all of you who comment and leave kudos, thank you for feeding my soul. Thank you for inspiring me to keep writing.

His job isn’t glorious. He knows that, but it’s his and his alone. He loves it. Leisurely watching over everyone as they come and go, chatting up merchants, trading stories, making each person that walks through his gates smile . . . it's nice; it makes him feel whole. It isn’t a glorious job, but then again, maybe it is. After all, he isn’t just the gatekeeper—he’s the guardian of smiles.

Of course, there is the whole vigilantly standing guard part of the job. And that bit is nice and all, but it's the making folks smile that he really loves. He’s good at it, always has been. Why his ma always said, he could make a red wolf smile if he really wanted to. He'd tried it once, not intentionally, but he did. And he's happy to report that his ma is no liar. Sure, the wolf was probably smiling at the thought of an easy meal, but hey he'll take it. A smile earned is a smile earned. He chuckles at the memory, then lets out a sigh. He can make a beast of red smile, but not her. His armor creaks as his shoulders sag.

Wispy flutters of grey sleeves catch his eye. He wills his shoulders up, demands his stance be proud, and holds his head high. This time. Maybe this time, he’ll make her smile.

As she nears, his arm shoots skywards and traitorously begins to wave. Vigilant! He'd promised to be vigilant. Waves are not vigilant. He panics, and clumsily turns his friendly wave into a salute, “Greetings, Professor! Nothing to report.”

He could be vigilant and try to make her smile, though. Right? He could be a. . . uh. . . a smile vigilante! Yes, that! Oh, he likes the sound of that. Maybe he'll start calling himself that. Gatekeeper, the smile vigilante! Hmmm, no. He'll stick with gatekeeper the guardian of smiles!

He notices, a head of teal in front of him and snaps back to reality. Oh, right, the Professor! Darn got distracted again. He flashes her his brightest smile. Sometimes that’s all it took — a smile for a smile.

“Are you settled in here at the monastery yet? Make sure you have a good look around. There’s much to see! Much to do! Oh, I know! You mentioned you liked animals, didn't you?” For the briefest moment, he thinks he sees her mouth twitch upwards. He latches on to the tiny hope and, lets his words fall freely.

“Did you hear about the new wyvern hatchlings? You should go see them. I bet they’re just so cute. And small! Oh, I bet they're like little sky puppies!" Her face goes funny, was she trying to imagine sky puppies? Should a gatekeeper be talking about sky puppies? Okay, so maybe that was a little too much. Reel back, reel it back. "I mean, I bet they'll serve the knights well. Don’t you?”

He sees it again, that little twitch of her lips. And he knows it's real. The desire to bounce back and forth on the balls of his feet is almost overwhelming. It might actually happen. He might actually do it this time. Calm down. Deep breaths. He. Can. Do. This.

He wills his feet to stand firm, but try as he might he can’t keep the smile from his voice. “Oh, I almost forgot. Apparently, there's a white one. Can you imagine that! Something so rare, bet it is like finding a pearl in an oyster!” His smile falters, “Although I heard the poor little pearl isn't doing so well.”

The upward twitch vanishes from her lips. Why did he have to bring that up? No, don't think like that. He can still do this. He will do this. “I wouldn’t worry, though. I bet the Wyvern Masters are taking the best care of the little pearl of a pup. They're probably all battling over who gets to look after her and call her their mount! I know I would. I mean can you just imagine flying into battle on such a majestic beast?"

The twitch of her lips is back. Keep going, keep going. "On such a beast, every soldier, every enemy would know exactly who you were. Oh, wait, I guess that wouldn’t be a good thing, would it?”

He nearly smacks himself. The amusement that danced across her face seconds ago has died. He was so close. So, so close.

“Still I’m sure she'll be just fine! Who doesn’t treasure pearls? Oh, don’t forget she has her mom to take care of her!” He spots a twitch and smiles at his quick thinking.

“It’s not like the mom would just abandon it for being different. Although I did have a dog do something like that to one of her pups before. Wouldn't feed it or anything.” The upward turn of her mouth retreats. Stop talking, stop talking. “Can you believe that? Just left it to die. If it wasn't for me poor little Juniper wouldn't have survived a week.” Why was he still talking? This is not smile territory. Nothing about puppies almost dying is ever smile territory.

He frowns at the distant look on her face. Make it better. He has to make it better. "Professor, are you alright? You look a little down. You should go see those little sky puppies, I’ll bet they’ll make you smile. I wish I could go see them with you, but you know this gate isn’t going to guard itself.” Why does he keep mentioning the sky puppies? Ugh, we're was a red wolf mouth to jump into when you needed one.

She looks at him, an almost frown on her face, "I'm fine, just thinking. But you know I think I'll go see those wyverns now." She turns to go and gives him a small wave as she leaves. He feels his shoulders slump down again, hears his armor creak. There was always next time.

*******************************

A few weeks pass by before he sees her mingling in the market. And this time, he’s ready. This time won’t be another maybe. This time, he’ll make her smile. How could he not? Not after all the one-liners, Alois helped him come up with.

He tilts his head in contemplation as she spots him and waves. Which one though? Which one to open with? 'I've got a great joke about construction, but I'm still working on it.’ No, starting off like that might set the bar too high. Maybe, ‘I used to hate facial hair...but then it grew on me.’ No, no, he was freshly shaven. Oh, the stairs! The stairs one is perfect!

He readies himself as she approaches, “Greetings, Professor! Nothing to report!" He silences a giggle, "Oh well, I guess there is something to report. Recently I heard that you shouldn’t trust stairs."

She tilts her head, her gaze steady "Really, why's that?"

"They're always up to something.” A snort of a chuckle escapes his lips. The sound dies when he spies her frowning.

She sighs, “You’ve been hanging out with Alois again, haven’t you?”

He nods. Okay so not what he was expecting. But he can do this. He will do this, just keep talking. People eventually gave in and smiled when he kept talking. Right? I mean it worked on that red wolf. Why not the Professor?

He spits out the first thing that comes to mind. “Professor, did you ever go see the white wyvern?”

She nods, “Yes, I did.” He leans into her response, was their mirth in her voice? He can feel his face beaming. It's working. He can feel it. This time, he'll do it this time! “How lucky! I went to see her, but she wasn't there. They, . . . they said no one wanted her. Not even the mother! So, they just gave the little pearl away. Can you believe that? Poor little girl. I hope she found a nice home. A happy home. I’d hate to imagine if someone bad took her. Some people eat baby wyverns, you know.” What is he saying! Abort, abort, abort! This is not smile territory!

His eyes dart around, searching for something anything! Something new. Something happy. Something different to talk about. His eyes catch on the bag slung across her shoulder. That's new, that's different. New things are happy things. Right?

He blindly blabbers on, “Wow, Professor, that’s a nice new bag!” His words catch in his throat. It was moving. Her bag was moving. On its own. “Um Professor, I think, um I think your bag just moved.”

She doesn't even flinch. “Oh, I didn’t think she’d be awake so soon. But, this's a good thing though. You did say you wanted to see her.”

"I what?" He asks, confusion dripping from his voice.

"Just wait and see," she says.

He watches, eye-brows scrunched in concentration as she reaches into her bag and lifts out a scaly white blob with itty bitty wings and tiny little arms. And oh, so adorable baby dragon horns.

“By the goddess is that! It is!” He rushes forward, nearly dancing in delight. “You are so cute. Who is the cutest sky puppy ever? Is it you? Why, yes, it is!”

“She is, isn’t she? Do you want to hold her?” He doesn’t even look up at her. He just nods vigorously and scoops the little wyvern up into his arms. The little girl lets out a chirpy yawn, and his heart melts. How could one little critter be so darn tootin’ cute?

He’s too consumed, too caught up in a world of sky puppy preciousness to notice the Professor's reaction. At least, he is at first. And really who can blame him? She's a little pearl of a wyvern, and she's so darn cute. When he’s had his full of dragon chirps, belly rubs, and gentle scritches, he turns to her. That’s when he notices. That’s when he sees. She’s smiling. She's smiling at them. His heart nearly stops. He did it. He finally did it. He doesn’t know how, but he did it.

Her smile stays firmly planted, coloring her voice as she speaks, "I knew she'd like you. You gave the little girl her name after all."

"I did?” He asks.

She nods, her smile growing brighter as she gazes at the yawning little dragon. "Her name's Pearl."

He looks down at the wyvern curled up in his arms. He was wrong, he hadn’t made her smile. Pearl had, or maybe, just maybe they both had.

He tilts his head, drawing it closer to the treasure in his arms. "It's nice to meet you, Pearl." Young eyes gaze back at him, and he knows. He knows she'll be a good guardian of her mother's smile.


End file.
